Perf is a profiler tool for Linux 2.6+ based systems that abstracts away CPU hardware differences in Linux performance measurements and presents a simple commandline interface. The documentation for perf inside kernel is available at “linux_kernel_src/tools/perf/Documentation” $ sudo apt install linux-tools-common linux-tools-uname -r $ perf --help usage: perf [--version] [--help] [OPTIONS] COMMAND [ARGS] The most commonly used perf commands are: annotate Read perf.data (created by perf record) and display annotated code archive Create archive with object files with build-ids found in perf.data file bench General framework for benchmark suites buildid-cache Manage build-id cache. buildid-list List the buildids in a perf.data file data Data file related processing diff Read perf.data files and display the differential profile evlist List the event names in a perf.data file inject Filter to augment the events stream with additional information kmem Tool to trace/measure kernel memory properties kvm Tool to trace/measure kvm guest os list List all symbolic event types lock Analyze lock events mem Profile memory accesses record Run a command and record its profile into perf.data report Read perf.data (created by perf record) and display the profile sched Tool to trace/measure scheduler properties (latencies) script Read perf.data (created by perf record) and display trace output stat Run a command and gather performance counter statistics test Runs sanity tests.

Command line execution

Terminalbash
sed systems that abstracts away CPU hardware differences in Linux performance measurements and presents a simple commandline interface. The documentation for perf inside kernel is available at “linux_kernel_src/tools/perf/Documentation”  $ sudo apt install linux-tools-common linux-tools-`uname -r` $ perf --help  usage: perf [--version] [--help] [OPTIONS] COMMAND [ARGS]  The most commonly used perf commands are:    annotate        Read perf.data (created by perf record) and display annotated code    archive         Create archive with object files with build-ids found in perf.data file    bench           General framework for benchmark suites    buildid-cache   Manage build-id cache.    buildid-list    List the buildids in a perf.data file    data            Data file related processing    diff            Read perf.data files and display the differential profile    evlist          List the event names in a perf.data file    inject          Filter to augment the events stream with additional information    kmem            Tool to trace/measure kernel memory properties    kvm             Tool to trace/measure kvm guest os    list            List all symbolic event types    lock            Analyze lock events    mem             Profile memory accesses    record          Run a command and record its profile into perf.data    report          Read perf.data (created by perf record) and display the profile    sched           Tool to trace/measure scheduler properties (latencies)    script          Read perf.data (created by perf record) and display trace output    stat            Run a command and gather performance counter statistics    test            Runs sanity tests.    timechart       Tool to visualize total system behavior during a workload    top             System profiling tool.    trace           strace inspired tool    probe           Define new dynamic tracepoints  See 'perf help COMMAND' for more information on a specific command. References – https://perf.wiki.kernel.org/index.php/Tutorial http://www.brendangregg.com/perf.html and http://www.brendangregg.com/linuxperf.html

Risk level: destructive. Review the command before running it.

Implementation details

timechart Tool to visualize total system behavior during a workload top System profiling tool. trace strace inspired tool probe Define new dynamic tracepoints See 'perf help COMMAND' for more information on a specific command. References – https://perf.wiki.kernel.org/index.php/Tutorial http://www.brendangregg.com/perf.html and http://www.brendangregg.com/linuxperf.html

Gotchas and common issues

  • Permission checks - verify user access rights and sudo privileges before executing system-level operations.

  • Environment configuration - double-check path variables and dependency versions to prevent runtime failures.

  • Backup safeguards - maintain configuration backups before applying system or database modifications.

Following these steps ensures clean configuration and reliable execution for install perf in ubuntu linux.